


His Final Resting Place

by kyberdust



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Lotura - Freeform, how do tags work, miss keisha? miss keisha?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 12:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15000650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyberdust/pseuds/kyberdust
Summary: Lotor is dying, so Allura turns to the only place she can think of for help.





	His Final Resting Place

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my Lotor groupschat on twitter for the inspiration. Y'all have yourself to thank. Shoutout to Sonya for beta'ing for me. 
> 
> We're all hurting so in an attempt to fix it I've made it worse.

He was dying.

She knew he was.

But she would be damned if she let it happen.

He was too far gone for her to heal, but she hadn’t given up hope yet. There were forces in the universe stronger than her, larger than her. Forces capable of bringing him back without corrupting him. The White Lion. The Sages. Oriande. The birthplace of Altean alchemy. Where it all started. All her hope rested there. Hope that her ancestors would come to her aid, _his aid,_ and bring him back to her.

He couldn’t die. He wouldn’t. Not after everything that had happened, everything they’d been through. Their story wasn’t over yet.

Tears stung her eyes, threatening to blur her vision, as she carried him towards the only place that contained an ounce of hope. Whispered pleas for him to stay alive continuously spilled past her lips. She was painfully aware of how every breath he took could potentially be his last. As soon as she spotted the temple, she was running, her heavy footsteps echoing off the walls. There was no White Lion to guide her, but she knew the way. Upon reaching the statues of the sages, she fell to her knees. 

She pulled off her helmet, and the tears she had been struggling to hold back rolled down her cheeks. “Please,” she whispered, tentatively pulling off Lotor’s helmet as well. He was still breathing, but barely. She cradled him in her arms, placing a hand on his chest. “Please.”

She looked up at the passive statues. “You have to help me!” Desperation seeped from her voice. “Please! He’s dying!”

She turned back to the fallen Emperor, and a few of her tears spilled onto his armour. “I can save you,” she whispered hoarsely to herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, and her brows pulled together in a pained frown. A radiant white glow emanated from her hands as she focused her energy. The light was warm and seemed to thrum against the both of them. But it wasn’t enough. She was already exhausted, and he was too far gone.

Still, she pushed on. _More._ _She just needed to give him_ _more._

Suddenly a hand gently clasped hers. She gasped, and her eyes shot wide open in awe and disbelief. “Lotor?!”

He let out a strained breath, his fingers weakly intertwining with hers, rendering her touch useless.

“What are you doing? No, please. Please stop. I need you. You were right. We’re meant to be together. You can’t leave me. Please. I can save you.”

“Allura…” His eyes opened, and she blinked away the tears clouding her vision to look at him. Those wondrous golden and violet eyes, filled with such kindness and tenderness despite all the abuse and atrocities they had seen. Every breath he took was a struggle. His touch was weak, his body limp. She held her breath in fearful anticipation of his words.

“I’m sorry.”

It was the start of a goodbye.

She shook her head, the desperation that had subsided at his awakening violently flooding back. “No. Don’t. Don’t say goodbye. Don’t you dare!”

His grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly, as if he’s trying to reassure her. More tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Describe Altea for me.”

She let out a shuddering breath. She wanted to protest, but who was she to deny him his final request? She sniffed, a sad smile on her face as she reached up to brush back a few strands of his hair. “You would have loved it,” she said quietly. “The fields were green and bright, and purple juniberries dotted them like stars, stretching as far the eye could see. The water was so clear it sparkled. When the sun set, the sky would be awash in an array of vibrant colours. And at night, the stars shone so bright.”

He mustered a weak smile. “Sounds like home.”

She let out something between a laugh and a sob, nodding a little as she gently caressed his cheek, her thumb brushing the area where his Altean marking was hidden. “It does, doesn’t it?”

His eyelids were growing heavier, the time that passed between each flutter of his lashes gradually shortening. It broke her heart to watch the life slowly leave his eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away. He leaned into her touch, and his thumb brushed over hers ever so gently.

“I love you.”

Her face crumbled. “No,” she whispered, clutching his hand tightly. “No. Lotor. Please.”

A violent sob rocked her body, and she doubled over, burying her face against his shoulder as she cried. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I love you.” But his body went limp in her hold, his grip on her slackened until it fell from her. She didn’t know if he’d heard her, or if she’d been too late.

She cradled his lifeless body as she cried, her sobs echoing off the walls of the temple. She cried for her fallen friend, for the love that never got to be, for the life he deserved but never got to have.

A familiar roar made her look up, and she found herself face to face with the White Lion.

She couldn’t help the fury that washed over her at the sight of it.

“Where were you!? You let him die! You could have saved him!” She turned to the statues. “You all could have! What kind of Life Givers are you?”

 

—

 

Lotor could no longer feel pain he was in, only numbness.

Allura’s presence brought him comfort as he faced death. He had faced it, feared it many times before. He did not fear it now.

The last thing he recalled were her bright but sad eyes and the gentle touch or her fingers against his cheek.

And then there was darkness.

When he opened his eyes again, he was blinded by light.

He stood on a seemingly endless plane of bright white, reaching as far as the horizon. It felt familiar. He’d been there before. During the trials of Oriande.

The White Lion appeared.

Was it another trial? Was this his final judgement?

He watched the lion carefully, but it did not appear hostile.

There was no victory, because he was already dead.

The White Lion approached him, and Lotor kneeled. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, ready and willing to accept his fate. _He yields._

There was a soft brush of fur against his forehead, and a calmness he hadn’t felt in centuries spread through him. He exhaled, and everything vanished. He was floating, weightless.

When he lifted his head and opened his eyes, he found himself in a different place – one he didn’t recognise.

“Where am I?”

_“You have returned to the realm of your ancestors. The Alteans and the Life Givers who came before. There is no need to kneel here. You are home. Rise. Let us embrace you.”_

He did as he was told, rising from his previous position. He felt himself being lifted up, as though being guided by a gentle force, and a pleasant warmth spread through his chest as he rose to pursue the calm, beckoning voice.

He smiled.

He was home.

 

—

 

The statues did not respond to the Altean princess. She continued to cradle Lotor’s lifeless body in her arms. Tears stained both his and her armour.

The lion approached her, despite Allura’s blatant hostility. It waited patiently for her to finish venting her anger and frustration.

Her shoulders sagged in defeat as she stared up at the White Lion before her. What did it want? His body? It wasn’t beckoning her like it did last time they visited Oriande. It was just staring.

It closed its eyes. A tick passed.

Then, a pair of familiar golden and violet eyes met hers.

Tears instantly welled up in her own again. She reached out, brushing her hand over its nose, stroking it lovingly.

“I love you,” she whispered. It earned her a gentle, affectionate nudge in return.

She looked down at Lotor’s body through watery eyes, smiling sadly at him. She brushed a hand through his long white hair. “I loved you.”

The lion moved forward, teeth grabbing Lotor by his collar and lifting him up.

Allura let go.

She watched as the lion disappeared into the temple, and Lotor with it.

A melancholic smile crossed her face.

“You can rest now.”

**Author's Note:**

> :~)


End file.
